Farmer Boy
by JustiFaiz
Summary: Riley had much better things to do than feed the pigs. Like run off while fighting imaginary monsters with a stick.


Matt was probably looking for him. His mother was probably worried sick.

But Riley was content. He had found a stick that was perfect for pretend swordfights while he was helping his big brother feed the pigs, and he may have snuck off so he could play with the stick, with Rubik trotting along beside the six year old with his head darting back and forth, keeping his guard off to protect the boy who was so prone to wandering away from the tasks he was set to do.

Riley was busy swinging around his stick-sword to combat invisible enemies, so much so that he wasn't even aware how far away he was wandering off from the ranch. The little boy whacked a few low hanging branches with his stick, laughing as he watched the leaves fall from them. He jumped over a large tree root and continued on his way.

He paused when he realizes that his feet were wet, and he looked down and realized he was standing in the middle of a shallow stream that wound it's way through the forest nearby his home. It wasn't usually this shallow, but the summer had been hotter than normal so most of it had dried up, which meant that Riley could see much of the contents that would otherwise be at the bottom of the stream. He noticed something shiny in the mud, and he fell to his knees, ignoring the fact that his mom would most likely yell at him for getting his new overalls dirty.

He used to stick to start digging, with Rubik nearby keeping a lookout for him.

Matt was the one who had to deal with their mother freaking out. She was dragging him around their entire ranch calling out Riley's name. She scolded him for not keeping a better eye on his little brother.

"Ma, calm down. I'm sure he just went out to the forest again like he always ends up going. I'll go get him." The 11 year old assured her.

She sighed and nodded, and Matt grabbed his worn hat before running off towards the forest. Sure enough, when he arrived at the edge he saw Riley's dog waiting for him. As soon as he got near enough, Rubik turned around and began to trot away from him. Matt followed close behind, winding in between the trees. He had no idea how his little brother could have wandered so far off. Usually he noticed when he got too far.

He stumbled onto the stream that he and his brother played in sometimes, and saw Riley enthusiastically digging in a mud puddle, his new green overalls completely splattered and a pile of shiny stones next to him.

"Ri, what are you doing?" Matt asked his little brother, bending down to get a better look.

Riley held up a shiny pebble. "I'm digging for shiny things."

"And gettin' your clothes dirty." Matt pointed out.

Riley looked down at his clothes. "...Oops."

"Yeah, oops. Come on now, before Ma starts pulling her hair out."

Matt held out his hand for his little brother, and Riley quickly collected all his little treasures and sticking them into his front overall pocket. Riley grabbed Matt's hand and they walked back to the ranch with Rubik close behind them.

"Do you wanna see my favorite?" Riley asked his older brother earnestly.

"Sure, go ahead."

Riley pulled out a triangular looking stone and held it up for Matt to inspect.

Matt let out a low whistle. "You found an arrowhead little bro!"

"Arrowhead?"

"Yep, they used to stick these on arrows. Not as cool as your swords, but still deadly."

Riley look absolutely awed anyways. "You think I could find more?"

"Probably, but Ma wouldn't want you to dirty up your clothes too bad."

Riley just shrugged at that. "I'll be careful."

Matt laughed, and ruffled his little brother's hair as they arrived back at the ranch and into their mother's relieved arms.

That had been 10 years ago already, and now Matt's little brother had abandoned his mud splattered green overalls and was off to go visit some dinosaur museum for whatever reason. Matt sighed as he pulled out the old arrowhead that Riley had found so long ago from out of his pocket, running his fingers over the old thing. He wondered why Riley suddenly wanted to go so badly to see that dinosaur museum. He had never given that much interest in dinosaurs, preferring more to focus his attention on sword-fighting. But maybe…

He reached into his pocket again, and pulled out a strange looking grey gem, that glowed slightly in the sunlight.

Maybe he had his reasons.


End file.
